Fruit-cleaner.



U. K. PORTER.

FRUIT CLEANEH APPLEUATION FILED 7.1m. .91?

Patented Apt. 8, 1913.

2 SEEBTSSHEET 1.

In II (WM/mm O. K. PORTER.

FRUIT CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.1G, 19121 Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

nvewto n UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORSON K. PORTER, or "1 HE DALLES, (OREGON, Assmnon TO onneon FRUIT CLEANER ooMPANY,.or THE DALLES, OREGON, A CORPORATION OF OREGON.

FRUIT-CLEANER.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORSON K. PORTER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of The Dalles, in the county of VVasco and State of'Oreg'on, have invented. certain new and. useful Improvements in F ruit-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cleaners for fruits of various kinds and particularly to fruits such as apples which are readily bruised and thereforerequire careful handling.

To secure a thorough cleaning action in a compact niachlne I have prov ded differential cleaning and feeding mechanlsm 1n the form of a pair. of brushingrollers located adjacent the path of the fruit through the cleaner and provided with brushing spirals of a material rather soft in quality. The nature of the action of the apparatus is determined by thedirection of the spirals, their pitchand the direction of. rotat1on of the rollers. Where the rollers are rotated at the same speed theremust be a difference in the pitch of the spirals in order to secure the desired differential feeding action. \Vhere, on the contrary, the rollers are driven at different speeds the spirals on the two rollers need not differ in pitch. WVhere the rollers rotate in the same direction the spiral .or spirals on one roller must be left handed, while those on the other are right handed, 'whereas if the rollers rotate in opposite directions the direction ofthe spirals on both' rollers may be the same. 'In any case the construction and manner of driving should be such as to secure the prolonged cleaning and differential feed toward the outlet, of the machine. I. find it advantageous also to provide a support for the fruit as it passes this support an endless brus ing draper or belt. While it is not necessary to drive the.

rollers which may suitably be provided with .spirals, the pitches of which are in the ratio of two to one, the fast feeding spiral tending to feed toward the foot-of the machine.

"As;,explained abdi this result maybe se- Specification of Iietters Patent.

of the casing being omitted.

' nism and for the inner through the cleaner while being subjected to the actionjofthe rollers and refer to make rotatably mounted in the casing.

a. difference in pitch.

Patented Apr. 8,1913. Application filed March 16, 1912. Serial No. 684,121. i

Various other features'as'forinstance the manner in which the rolls are mounted will hereinafter appear. v i

, Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is-a longitudinal section through the center of the cleaner. F ig.' 2 is a plan View, the top transverse section on the line 3-.3, 2, looking in the-directlon ofthe arrows: Fig. 4 1s a transverse section on the line 4-4.'

Fig. 3 is a F ig; 2, looking in the direction of the ar rows, Fig. '5 is a detail perspective View showing the construction of the brushing rollers, the manner in which their head ends are mounted and details mechanism. 7

The bottom 1 of the casing of my cleaner is supported by suitable means as legs 2- and and has secured to it an outer head 3 and a foot 1 which, with'the casing 5, are secured in any suitable manner to the bottom 1. The bottom 1 is provided with a suction hole 6, theouter head 3 with an opening through which passes the feed chute 7 and the foot 4 with anopening through which passes the delivery chute'8. The feed and delivery chutes may-both be provided with lambs wool or other soft material if desired.

The top 9 of the'casingmay'be hinged as at 1 0 and fastened as at 11 by a hasp or otherwise. The framework .thus described is supplemented by an inner head 12 forming with the outer head 3 a double head which provides a suitable space for driving mechaend of the feed chute 0n the, top of the in- 7 which is supported ner head 12. v v

I prefer to locate the cleaning mechanism within a casing since this facilitates the removal'of dust and dirt as well as serves as a protection to, the parts but it 'will be obvious that a casing is'not absolutely essential. In

the embodiment of my invention illustrated herein a pair of brushing and feeding r011 respectively is Before of these rollers ers having 'shafts'13 and '14 discussing the construction I- will describe the mannerin which .I prefer to mount them.

Slide blocks 15 receiving the head ends of the shafts 13 and 14 are mounted in undercut grooves 16. Each of these blocks is proof the driving and having a flexible I same in the caseof each roller.

vided with a collar 17 in which the shaft rotates and which has a socket 118 to receive the lower arm 19 of a lever pivoted at '20 projection 22 for coaction with a toothed locking plate 23. The construction is the be apparent that the distance between the two rollers may be adjusted by moving one or both of them. The manner in which the other ends of theshafts 13' and 14 are mounted is evenmore simple. The said ends are carried in bearings formed in the lower end arms 24 whlch are secured at of swinging their upper ends by bolts 25 so that they may either turn when the bolts are against movement.

tightened, be held firmly the lower ends of both rollers or of.e ither roller may be left free to automatically adjust themselves to varying conditions as. fruit of different sizes passes through or, if

preferred, one or both of them may be rigidly fastened. The movement of the head ends of the shafts caused by this automatic adjustment is .comparatively slight ranged 1n a spiral or spirals and s: of comv 1 also,

tion illustrated in the and is provided for by little extra play in their bearings at the head of the machine. The brushing. and cleaning material on these rollers s ar parativelyfsoft material, a. rush of suitable quality being satisfactory. I' provide each roller with two or more spirals of brushing material, said spirals being .of diiferent depths. .Thisresults in a feeding screw and also secures more efhcient cleaning action.

In order to avoid danger of bruisingthe' fruit it is best to clothe the rollefs with the spirals substantially completely. To secure sufiicient resistance to give the desired: feed? ploy a single row of tufts in the shallow spirals and a double row in the deeper spirals. In the embodimentof my invendrawings,' I. have shown theleft hand roller as provided with two spirals 26 -"27, the latter being deeper than the former. In this embodiment of the invention the rollers are driven inthe samedirection at the same speed in a manner to be hereinafter described. Accordingly, I provide the other roller, '5. 6;, the roller having the shaft 14, with a plurality of spirals having fore capable, when rotated at the same speed, of :feeding more rapidly than the spirals of the first roller. The ratio illustrated is two to one, althoughobviously it might be different and the directionof the spirals is opposite the spirals on the roller on the shaft 13 being right handed and the spirals on the roller mounted on the shaft it has .four, handle :21 having a It will thus 7 31-32, the formersupported in brackets 33 freely around said bolts or,

It is thus clear that In addition to ready described, I prefer to mount'a. yieldgiving the shafts a.

. 111g action I prefer to make the spirals,-

' which are ofgreater depth, ofv greater width a convenient arrangement being to ema lesser pitch and there- 1,05 aaeo 14 being left handed. The latter roller is substantially clothed by its spirals of which two 2828 shallowand two 29-429 deep.

I prefer to suppo passingthrough' the machine and find it best to use an endless draper or brushing belt 30,- which extends lengthwise between the rolls and slightly below the plane in which their axes are mounted. As suggested above, I prefer to drive this'draper so thatits upper or fruitsupporting flight moves fronrthe head toward the foot of the cleaner}, This draperis mounted on transverse shafts on the inner head 12 and the latter in brackets34- onthe foot 4. The shaft 31 is. provided with a pulley 35 driven by a belt 36.

The shaft 32 is provided with a pulley 37 from which a grader may 'be driven where one is employed. 3 the brushing devices alable but. otherwise stationary longitudinal brushing member 38 above the path of the] fruit through the cleaner. This brushing member --is hinged at .39 to the inner side .of the outer'head 3; near its top and; has at v I ts lower ends. projecting finger 40 freely, movable in a vertical slot 41 in the foot 4. Obviouslythe beginning of the passage. into which the fruit-is delivered by the feed chute should be large-enough totake freely. any

fruit which may be handled by the machine, whereas the portions of the passage nearer thefoot of the machine. should embrace the fruit closely but yieldingly. It will be clear that this is accomplished by the construe.-

tion referred to. p I

The rollers may be driven by any suitable herein being as follows: The driving'shaft.

31 above referred to carries" a'bevelj gear 42 whiclrdrives a bevel gear 43 on the vertical shaft 44 mounted ,in suitable bearings 110 on the side of the casings-"which shaft through the bevel gears 45, 46': drives the shaft'47. mounted in suitable bearings on the under side of the bottom 1. This shaft 47' v by the. bevel gears 48, 4'9 drives'the shaft 15 50 mounted in bearings on the under sidefof the bottom and carrying the sprocket wheels 51, 52 which by sprocket chains 53, 54 andsprocket wheels 55, '56 drive respectivelythe;

rollers. mounted oiisliafts 13 and 14. "The:

, 120 relative speed-may of, course be varied by? changing the relations of the various .beveli gears and "Sprocket wheels The relation shown lssuchthat both rolls are drivengi'n the. same direction at the same speed, the draperbe-ing -driven toward the foot. ofFthe machine at substantially the resultant feeding speed of the substantial cleaning-end mechanism constituted by the-two the under side of the'l'bottom feeding rollers.

t the fruit while a is 7 ;'means, the driving connections 1llustrated- 1 is secured the casings 5i of-the suction fan 58 which is driven fromthe vertical shaft 44 through a pulley 59, belt 60 and pulley 61.

When one of the rollers turns toward the draper it obviously has a tendency. to-

press the fruit onto the draper and if the fruit is small enough and there is a suflicient space between the roller and the draper'to crowd it through the said space,-

it follows therefore that a roller so driven should. be mounted near the diaper prefer-' ably so that its'surfacewill just clear the upper corner of the draper' and that it should be adjusted r nanently in this position until .fruit oi a larger size is to' be handled. Where the other roller is being driven away'from the said. draper so that it has no .tendency'to move the fruit toward the draper, a considerable space between the" draper and the roller is permissible and the lower end of this roller may be leftto yield freely, being held to its work only byits weight which is not great' There is 'sufiicient play between the parts the upper end of the rollers yielding movement at the foot. y obvious that similar results might be se to permit this 1 cured by,mounting the rollers yieldably at the bottom and adjustably at the top by other suitable and well known means.

The operation of the machine is probably clear from what has already been saidbut may here be briefly recapitulated. The fruit rolls down the feed chute 7 onto the draper 30 between the cleaning and brushing rollers whoses'piials'26, 27, 28 and 29 thorough brushing and simultaneously acting upon it, give it ,a 'turn it about in various directions, the .difl'erential feed b which'the rolleron the'shaft'l3 tends to eed it back towardwthe head of the cleaner tends" to feed it while the roller-mounted :01 the shaft 1a foot of the cleaner v o bviQusly gives a turniug'movement; The rotation of the rollers also tends to turn the fruit in a-plane 01' cleaning and to planesapproximating the vertical so that the resultant movement is exceedingly varied. The top brush serves to assistin the prevent the fruit from be- I ng carried outof the cleaning passage. The draper traveling towardthe foot of the cleaner referably at substantially the re sultant' i ries it to the delivery chute 8. In the meaning' in ,the bottom being time, the suction fanhas beendrawingair inthrough the openings at the head and I 1 foot. of the cleaner and drawing it down through ,the brushing apparatus so as to carry the dust out of the machine, the openpreferably displaced somewhat toward the foot of the machine, thus, producing an increased air cur rent through that portion of the apparatus.

nation differential br located adjacent the through the cleaner for brushing contact' therewith, and means for rotating said rollers 'termined. by the directionsaid rollers.

as mounted at of It will be algebraic 'sum of these two.

4. A fru t cleaner comprisingin comb1- nationa pair of fruitihrough the tact therewith, "a

g .ing spirals on more rapidly toward the ceding speed given the fruit car-' What I claim as my invention is: l. A.fruit cleaner comprising in combiushing and feeding of a pair of brushing cleaning spirals and path of the fruit 1 mechanism consisting rollers provided with in 'a direct-ion and'a't a relative speed .de-

and pitch of 'the spirals to secure jsaid'difi'erential action. 1

2. A fruit cleaner comprising in combination a pair of brushing rollers clothed substantially completely rwith cleanin spirals -of comparatively soft- :material an located *adjacent the "path .Lof ;the' fruit through the cleaner for. brushing c'ontact therewith,

the pitchfiofthe spiral. on one .roller being diiferent from the pitch, of the spiral on the other, and means for driving 3 3. A fruit cleaner comprising in combination a pair of brushing rollers located adjacent the i path .of the; fruit, through the cleaner for brushing contact therewith, both saidrollers being provided with brushing spirals, and means for driving said rollers, said spirals by virtue of their direcpitch and the direction of rotationand speed of the rollers being opera- 9 5 tive one. to feed the 'fruit' toward the tion. an

'head'ofthe machine and the other to feed it more rapidly toward the foot of the machine, the resultant actual feed being the brushing rollers extending lengthwise at each side of the path of the cleaner for brushing conplurality" of brushing spirals "ofdifi'erent -,dept hs. clothing said rollers substantially completely, the brushone roller differing in pitch from those on the other, meansfor 'supporting the fruit between said rollers, and means for driving said rollers. 5. A fruit cleaner comprising in combination axpair of brushing rollers extending lengthwise at each' side of the path '01 the fruit tl-irou'gh the cleaner for blushingbontact therewith, a" plurality of brushing spirals of diiferent depths and widths clothing said rollers substantially 'ce r'n 'ilet'ely, each of said rollers when suitably driven being Opt, J,

erative to feed at'a difl 'erentrate, and meansalgb for driving said rollers." t

6. ADfruit cleaner comprising in ce nbr nation a pair of'brushing rollers extending lengthwise at each side of the path of the fruit 1 through the cleaner for brushing con-n25 ftact therewith,a plurality" of brushing spirals of different depths clothing said rollers substantiallycompletely, the deeper spiral being wider than the shallower spiral, means for'supporting the fruit between said rollers, 1 0

each of said rollers when suitably driven being operative to feed at a different rate,;

' inglymininted so that it is capableof auto and means for driving said rollers.

7. A fruit cleaner comprlsing 1n combi-.

nation an endless draper for supporting the fruit in its "passagethrough thecleaner, means-for driving said draper, a pair of screw brushing rollers'extending lengthwise at each fside of, said fruit and feed it through the cleaner, and

means for rotating said rollersin a direction andat a relative speed determined by the direction and pitch ofxthe spirals to produce a differential hrushing 'and feeding action. k I 8. A fruit cleaner. compr sing 1n -co mb1- nati-on a pair of brushing rollers-extending side .of the" path of the lengthwiseat each fruit through the. cleaner for brushing contact therewith Land each rollr being provided with a brushing spiral, adjustable bearings for said. rollers to permit their relative position to be varied, and means for i fruit as it passe's' between said rollers,

. lengthwise at supporting v the foot end of. 1o'ne.,,,off the rollers forautomatic' lateral pmovenicjit to-- ward and from the other, a. support for the and nieansfor driving said rollers.

v9. A. fruit cleaner: comprising in combi' brushing rollers extending nation a' pair of side of the path .of the each fruit through tact therewith 'theqend' of the shaft .of. one

of the rollers.beingyieldingly mounted at the foot of the cleaner for:.automatic"lateral movement toward'and from'theiother roller,

and means; for driving said' follers.

l0. -A fruit cleaner comprising in com bination a pair of brushing rollers =eXtend' ing lengthwise at each the fruit through the cleaner for brushing contact therewith, a support for the fruit as it passes between the rollers, a brushing member mounted above. said support and capable of. automatic vertical movement at its foot end, fandmeans for driving said rollers:

constituting fruit, cleaner in combibr'ushing rollers extending 11., A nation a pair of lengthwise at each'side'of the path of the fruit through the clear L r i for. brushing contact therewith, a support for the fruit as it passes between the rollers, a longitudinal brushing member located above said support "and having its head end hinged and its foot end freely movable vertically, and

means for driving said rollers;

1.2. A fruit cleaner comprising in-combination a draper clothed with brushing ma-.

terial on which the fruit rests in itspassage through the cleaner, means for driving said drap'er, a pair of screw brushing rollers differential cleaning and feed ing mechanism mounted mati'clateral movement, means draper to. brush the the cleaner forbrushing conside ofthe path ofbrushing material adjacent said draper and having their axe'ssubstantially 'parallel' with and somewhat above it,. t hje' lower end of one of said rollers being yieldfor rotating said brushing rollers to give a differential cleaning .Jand'feeding movement to the fruit, and a brushing member yieldingly -mounted above saiddrape'r. and for co-action with the fruit as it passes through the machine.

13. A fruit cleaner comprising in combibetween said rollers nation an inclosed casing having a hole in" its bottom and provi'dedwith a foot and with a double head, an endless brushing draper mounted in said casing, means for driving the same, a pair of'brushing rollers rotatably mounted .at' each. side of and slightly, above said draper, means for driving said rollers having connections in the casing located in the space between the parts of the double head, a suction fan for/withdrawing dust through the hole in -the,bot-

and means for driving tom .of the casing, the fan.

14:. A fruit cleaner comprising a support for the fruit in its. passage through the machine elothed with soft material,

a pair of brushing 'and' feeding rollers provided with brushing spirals and having their axes sub-. stantially p'arallelwithsaid support and on each side of and above the same, the spiral of oneof said rollers being left handed and that of the other right handed, means for rotating both-said rollers in the same direction and'at relative speeds depending on the relation of the pitch of the. respective spirals, thus giving thefruit, a differential If brushing and feeding movement. I

-15. A fruit cleaner comprising a pair of differential cleaning and tending lengthwise at each side ofithe path of the fruit and v acting simultaneously thereon, means for rotating the said rollers, a draper located between said roliers' and below the'plane of their axes, and means for driving said draper at substantially the re.

feeding rollers exltms i sultant feeding speed of said rollers and toward the foot of the machine. I,

.16. A. fruit cleaner comprising in combi nation, a casing having an outer head and an inner head, brushing and feeding deviceslocated in said casing, a feed-chute supported by, said inner. said outerhead and passing through an opening in the former,

and driving'device's for said cleaning and located in part in the:

feeding .mechanism space between the inner and the outer head.

17. Afruit cleaner comprising incombi nation an endless for sustaining the fruitin its passage through the cleaner, a pair of brushing and. feeding rollers extending draper and a brushand a lengthwise at each side of said having their axes above the same, ing spiral on one of said rollers,

draper clothed with f f l brushing spiral 0n the other of said rollers the/cleaner at substantially the speed which having 1ts pitch twice that of the spiral on is the resultant of the differential feeding the first named roller, means for driving movement caused by the rollers. the said rollers,.the direction of the spirals In testirnony whereof I aflix my signa- 6 gnd'the dlilreclt-ion fif rotation fof the rollers ture in presence of two Witnesses. ein suc t at t e spiral 0 lesser itch r 1 E eedgthe fruit toward the foot of the cloi aner e v ORSON PORT-12R while the spiral of greater pitch feeds it VVitnesses': toward the head of the'cleener, andmeans JOHN L. FLETCHER, 10 for driving the drapertoward the foot of MARGARET E. DILLER.

It is hereby'certitied that in Letters Patent No. 1,058,460, 'granted April 8, 1918, upon the" application of Orson K. Porter, of The Dalles, Oregon, for an improveinent in f Fruit-Cleaners, errors appear in theprinted specification ret uiring corr'ection as follows: Page 2, line 32, for the word F rush read bTUS/L, same page, v line 11 1, for the word casings casing; and line 128, for the word substantial read daferent'ial) page 3, line 1', for the Word "casings read casing; and same page, line 5; for the vivord When read Where; and that the said Letters Patent shonld be read with these-corrections therein that the same may conform to the I record of the case in the Patent Ofiiee.

shin Letters Patent No. 1,058,460 I Signed andseel ed this 3rd day of Juhe, A. 11,1913

[Sm-n 0. 0. BILLINGS,

, Acting Commissioner of Patents.

Correction f f l brushing spiral 0n the other of said rollers the/cleaner at substantially the speed which having 1ts pitch twice that of the spiral on is the resultant of the differential feeding the first named roller, means for driving movement caused by the rollers. the said rollers,.the direction of the spirals In testirnony whereof I aflix my signa- 6 gnd'the dlilreclt-ion fif rotation fof the rollers ture in presence of two Witnesses. ein suc t at t e spiral 0 lesser itch r 1 E eedgthe fruit toward the foot of the cloi aner e v ORSON PORT-12R while the spiral of greater pitch feeds it VVitnesses': toward the head of the'cleener, andmeans JOHN L. FLETCHER, 10 for driving the drapertoward the foot of MARGARET E. DILLER.

It is hereby'certitied that in Letters Patent No. 1,058,460, 'granted April 8, 1918, upon the" application of Orson K. Porter, of The Dalles, Oregon, for an improveinent in f Fruit-Cleaners, errors appear in theprinted specification ret uiring corr'ection as follows: Page 2, line 32, for the word F rush read bTUS/L, same page, v line 11 1, for the word casings casing; and line 128, for the word substantial read daferent'ial) page 3, line 1', for the Word "casings read casing; and same page, line 5; for the vivord When read Where; and that the said Letters Patent shonld be read with these-corrections therein that the same may conform to the I record of the case in the Patent Ofiiee.

shin Letters Patent No. 1,058,460 I Signed andseel ed this 3rd day of Juhe, A. 11,1913

[Sm-n 0. 0. BILLINGS,

, Acting Commissioner of Patents.

Correction 

